ROSES king David Austin — who created 200 varieties — left £18.4million in his will. His cultivars won 24 gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show and sold in 50 countries. 1 Roses king David Austin — who created 200 varieties — left £18.4million in his will David died aged 92 last December – after becoming world famous for his roses, with Apple boss Steve Jobs ordering hundreds to decorate a 100-metre walkway at his firm’s California studios. And he created designs for special occasions – including the “William and Catherine” rose to mark the royal couple’s wedding in April 2011. Austin left his estate to daughter Claire, who owns her own plant nursery, son David, who works in the family business, and Jim, a neural computing professor. The rose breeder, who was awarded an OBE for his work, grew up in Albrighton, Shrops, on his family farm. By the age of five he had his own gardening patch, given to him by his grandmother, and soon became fascinated by plants. Austin, who was severely dyslexic, said he spent nights as a child worrying about frosts. He became hooked on roses when his sister gave him a book about them. By the 1960s he had launched his own business, breeding his own roses. Within 40 years his firm, based in Wolverhampton, was generating £13 million a year in revenue through direct sales and at garden centres. Despite America’s strict quarantine laws he still boasted next-day delivery to every US state except Alaska and Hawaii. ‘WEE RUBSTAR’ Asked in recent years if he planned to retire, he refused the idea, adding: “That’s what drives me on — my love of roses, and knowing there are still better ones to come.” When asked about his favourite rose, he replied: “If I had to choose just one, I think pink Olivia Rose Austin, named after my granddaughter, has to be one of the best I’ve ever bred.” In 1956 Austin married Patricia Braithwaite, a sculptor and painter who helped him to set up the business in 1969. She died in 2007.
Source: www.thescottishsun.co.uk
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